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Applicaton process begins for low-income household heating assistance

With temperatures dropping, low-income North Carolina residents can soon apply for assistance with heating bills. 

The state’s Low Income Energy Assistance Program will begin accepting applications on Monday.

The federally funded program offers one-time payments sent directly to heating vendors to help offset the costs of keeping homes warm.

According to a news release from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, the initial application process is for households with a person aged 60 or older or a person currently receiving disability benefits.

All other eligible households can apply beginning January 2.

New applicants should have at least one U.S. citizen or non-citizen in the household who meets eligibility requirements, have income equal to or less than 130 percent of the federal poverty limit, and be responsible for their heating cost.

Last winter, the program provided nearly $48 million to help more than 134,000 households pay their heating bills.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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